Arthur Wilson
Born 18 May 1885 - Died 11 Aug 1953
- Service number
- WWI 18936 AWMM
- Also known as
- Nathaniel Arthur Wilson AWMM
- Ranji AWMM
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Last rank
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- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
About
- Title
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- Forenames
- Arthur AWMM
- Surname
- Wilson AWMM
- Ingoa
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- Also known as
- Nathaniel Arthur Wilson AWMM
- Ranji AWMM
- Service number
- WWI 18936 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
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- Religion
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Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
- 18 May 1885 AWMM
- Date of birth
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- Place of birth
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- Birth notes
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- Address before enlistment
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- Post war occupation
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- Next of kin
- Mrs J. Cooper (mother), 70 Hopper Street, Wellington, New Zealand AWMM
- Relationship status
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Wars and conflicts
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
- Campaign
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- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Service number
- WWI 18936 AWMM
- Military service
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- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
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Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
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Training and Enlistment
- Military training
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- Branch Trade Proficiency
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- Enlistment
- WW1 Unknown AWMM Cooper/Civilian AWMM
- Age on enlistment
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- Occupation before enlistment
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Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW1 26 Jul 1916 AWMM
HMNZT 59 or HMNZT 60 AWMM Vessel was Waitemata or Ulimaroa AWMM Corporal/Military AWMM 6th Reinforcements 4th Battalion, H Company AWMM New Zealand Rifle Brigade AWMM
Prisoner of war
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- POW liberation details
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- Liberation Repatriation
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Medical history
- Medical notes
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Last known rank
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Biographical information
- Ranji Wilson was an All Black between 1908 and 1914. The only New Zealander of West Indian heritage to have played for the All Blacks, he was dropped from the New Zealand Army team's 1919 tour of South Africa on racial grounds.
Nathaniel Arthur Wilson was born in Christchurch in 1886 to an English mother and Barbadian father. After moving to the capital he played senior club cricket for Wellington from the age of 16. He was nicknamed ‘Ranji’ after the greatest batsman of the era, Ranjitsinhji, an aristocratic Indian who played 15 tests for England.
New Zealand’s ‘Ranji’ continued to play cricket, but as he matured physically he won greater renown as a dynamic Athletic club loose forward. He was selected for Wellington B in 1906 and for the North Island the following year – before he had been picked for his province’s rep team. He played the first of his 10 tests against the Anglo-Welsh at Dunedin in 1908 and was to become the best New Zealand loose forward of his era.
Ranji Wilson was acquitted of breaking the jaw of a rival player in a club match in 1910 – he and his two brothers looked too much alike, according to confused eyewitnesss. He captained the Wellington team which won the Ranfurly Shield from Taranaki in September 1914.
He enlisted in May 1916 and was in the 15th Reinforcements. He joined the Division in France at the end of 1916 serving in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade and was promoted to sergeant. He suffered from trench foot in 1917 and was wounded at the Battle of Havrincourt in September 1918. Despite these setbacks, he played regularly for New Zealand Division and NZEF (UK) teams in the later stages of the war, and starred in the New Zealand Army XV which won the 1919 King’s Cup tournament against other British and Empire representative teams.
Although Wilson had played against South African Forces in the King’s Cup, he was left out of the New Zealand Army team which toured South Africa in mid-1919 after the host union requested that no Māori be included. Injury forced him to hang up his boots in 1921, but he remained involved with rugby as coach and later president of the Athletic club. He also had stints as a Wellington and New Zealand selector. Ranji Wilson died in 1953.
Nathaniel Arthur ‘Ranji’ Wilson was the son of Joseph Wilson and Tabitha Wilson. His mother was born in Batley, Yorkshire, England, while his father was from Barbados in the West Indies.
He had three brothers, Joseph Simman Wilson, William ‘Billy’ Wilson and Charles Leslie Wilson, and two sisters, Elizabeth Maria May ‘Betty’ Wilson and Ada Wilson. His brother Billy also served during World War I and was a renowned Rugby League player. AWMM
About death
- Death
- 11 Aug 1953 AWMM
- Date of death
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- Age at death
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- Place of death
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- Cause of death
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- Death notes
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- Cemetery
- Karori Cemetery and Crematorium Karori, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand AWMM Soldiers, 30 D/4 AWMM
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Memorial
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Related Serviceperson
Sources
- External links
- Military personnel file
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R22020447
Further Reference - 'Ranji Wilson Great War Story', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/video/ranji-wilson-great-war-story, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 24-Apr-2016
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/video/ranji-wilson-great-war-story
Further Reference - Ranji Wilson's All Black record (AllBlacks.com)
http://stats.allblacks.com/asp/profile.asp?ABID=974
Further Reference - 'It Is A Crime - Sequel To A Football Match Incident', Evening Post, 22 November 1910 (PapersPast)
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19101122.2.81
Further Reference - 'Springboks' Tour - Decision of Maoris', New Zealand Herald, 2 September 1936 (PapersPast)
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19360902.2.146
Further Reference - 'Not Guilty - The Football Assault Case', Evening Post, 23 November 1910 (PapersPast)
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19101123.2.92
Further Reference - Ranji Wilson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranji_Wilson
Further Reference - WHO CRACKED CALCINAI? NZ Truth, Issue 272, 10 September 1910, Page 6
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTR19100910.2.33
Further Reference - ACCUSED ARTHUR WILSON. NZ Truth, Issue 272, 10 September 1910, Page 6
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTR19100910.2.33.3
Further Reference
- Military personnel file
- References
- The ulima-roarer : a collection of wails & fishy stories, etc., from the Indian Ocean. (1916). [Indian Ocean]: [15th Reinforcements].
- New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1917). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume II. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
37: 34 - Beattie, P.J. & Pomeroy, M. (2013-2020). Onward : portraits of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (vols 1-5). Auckland, New Zealand: Fair Dinkum Publications
Vol. 3: Includes portrait - Austin, W. (1924). The official history of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (The Earl of Liverpool's Own). Wellington, N.Z.: L T Watkins.
- Reddiex, G.R. (2015). Just to let you know I’m still alive.
Wellington NZ: Grantham House PublishingPublic - Glenn - Researcher - 15 April 2019 - Postcard from the private collection of Glenn Reddiex, published in this book, page 142.
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